Spotting a Spotted Redshank
There are a couple of Spotted Redshanks close by. I take a hasty photograph and smile at the acrobatic leg stretching: There’s …
Spatula
The Lago di Alviano in Italy is one of my favourite places. Whether it’s cold and foggy or bright and breezy, there’s …
Pettirosso
European Robins are fascinating. This one is the forest in Italy looks like a youngster, as it has a pale band on …
Ultra Violet Tits
There are Blue Tits galore in the trees in this Italian forest. Their Italian name is Cinciarella, pronounced Chin-char-ella. Their beaks are …
A whale of a murmuration with a raptor on its tail
The Starlings are gathering at the Lago di Alviano and they’re swirling overhead. One moment they’re a tight, dark ball, the next …
Queenfisher
I’ve just spent my birthday sitting in a small wooden shed. Last year we were here looking at Red Squirrels in the …
Egghead Mottlegills at Hound Tor
A trip to Hound Tor on Dartmoor reveals a special fruiting sensation of Egghead Mottlegills, Panaeolus semiovatus, or at least that’s what I think they are. I’d probably need to destroy …
Last night’s mascara
Black Headed Gulls are so beautiful at this time of year. Looking closely at their eyes reveals long dark bristles. In summer …
When you really need a scratch
There’s a Grey Squirrel high on the branch above. It’s really enjoying a scratch. It’s making me feel itchy just looking at …
A fungus, the Ice Man and rotten wood that smells of green apples
There’s a common fungus growing on a birch tree in the woods. It’s called the Birch Bracket fungus. My friend Joe drinks …
Toxic raindrops
Bracken is such a successful fern that it grows all over the Earth, except in deserts and in Antarctica. Here in South …
I’m a Loon short of a full lake
I hear that there’s a Great Northern Diver, a type of bird frequently called a Loon everywhere apart from here, on a …
Somersettee
We’ve had a trip to Somerset. We left sunny Devon on the only sunny day forecast this week and arrived to thick …
One bauble left
It appears I haven’t managed to take all the Christmas decorations down in time. There’s one bauble still left: A Robin’s life …
Lordly Tree
There’s a particularly impressive oak tree in Abbotskerswell in South Devon. As the old joke says, it’s out standing in its field. …
A brown Blackbird and a Marsh Tit not in a marsh
There’s a brown Blackbird at Stover Country Park. It’s cold and it’s intent on eating some seed which someone has left on …
Sniping from the water’s edge
I wouldn’t have known it was there unless someone had pointed it out to me. Even then I couldn’t see it until …
2018 highlights of a wilder London life
I spent a few days in London in 2018 and managed to squeeze in a couple of trips to The Regent’s Park. …
2018 highlights of a wilder Italian life
2018 started for me with a trip to Italy to celebrate my birthday with a trip to remember – a visit to …
Zeeeeeeee
There’s a loud ‘Zeeeeee’ call from the top of the Yew trees in the churchyard opposite my house. I say churchyard but …
The Darkling Thrush
There’s a Song Thrush singing high above. It’s getting dark and I can just glimpse it through the branches. It’s hard to …
Purple mushrooms on Dartmoor
I’m on an organised fungus foray on Dartmoor with the Devon Fungus Group and, yes, we are all exactly like you would …
Lumpy Brackets and boring beetles
There’s a Lumpy Bracket fungus in the woods at Fingle Bridge on Dartmoor. That’s its name; the Lumpy Bracket fungus. It has …
Hedgehogs are to blame
There was a Hedgehog in my garden in Orkney. We all ran outside to see it and it curled up in a …
Black Necked Grebe
I’m in the middle of one of the most surreal of experiences of this year. There’s a small group of us in …
Serin
There’s a small, noisy flock of birds in the trees in this Italian park. I think they might be Siskins. They’re too …
Stonechatterbox
There’s the repeating sound of two stones being knocked together. There must be a Stonechat somewhere. It flies up to a wire …
Rotivator claws
Of all the birds you might guess would sit on a wire, I suspect the Heron would be near the bottom of …
Italian Sparrows
We all ignore the over-familiar. Sparrows are one species which is often unfairly overlooked. This is despite them being beautiful, fascinating to …
Autumn leaves in Rome
The early morning light is beautiful in this tiny park in Rome. I’ve read a few tourist reviews of Roman parks. They …